Tag: Architectural Heritage of County Waterford

Every single day I pass Newtown House in Tramore and it’s like it just doesn’t want to be noticed any more or, worse still, photographed.

Newtown House, Tramore, Co. Waterford

It dates back to the 1750s and is described in An Introduction to the Architectural Heritage of County Waterford as follows:

… Newtown House (c.1750), Tramore, a substantial five -bay house with enclosed porch….. This attractive, substantial house of solid massing is historically associated with the Power family; a wing was added in the mid twentieth century and accommodates a private chapel.

One of the lovely features of Newtown House is its location. It has stunning views of Tramore Bay and there are remnants of a walled garden which is now used as a soccer field.

It was converted into Bed and Breakfast accommodation around the 1970s and has falling into complete disrepair, especially after a couple of fires, in the last decade or so.

Deep within the abandonment of the house lies some hints of its past:

Fireplace in front hallArchway over Remnants of the Staircase

Beating one’s way around the back through briars, there are some fairly intact windows that draw ponderings about the former inhabitants and how they must have loved the views of the the Bay when they opened the shutters:

Window to the Past

Something that matters hugely to me is that it was the O’Neill -Power family from Newtown House who were responsible for planting my precious Newtown Wood in the early 19th Century when they opened an avenue from the Metal Man landmark to Newtown Cove.

I live in hope every evening when I see Newtown House at sunset that it will experience a new dawn that will see it rise again from its abandoned state.